WEEK 4 - PART 1
WEEK 4 RECAPS: GOOD-NEWS-BAD-NEWS
Welcome back for Week 4 entertainment. Crazy to think how fast things are moving - we’re about a third of the way through the regular season and 25% of the way through the entire fantasy season including playoffs. Before you know it we’ll have shitty weather (some of us) and baseball spring training so let’s remember to enjoy it while it lasts.
In last week’s recaps I tried to keep things positive and focus on good narratives for each team. While it was uplifting and lighthearted, I’m a natural pessimist and it’s hard for me to only focus on the good. (Should probably see a therapist for that.) Anyways this week we’re going to meet in the middle and give both good news and bad news for each team. As always the topics will vary and as always it should be insightful. In no particular order:
Daddy’s Little Gurl (2-2):
Good News: Let’s start with Courtland Sutton who is looking like a breakout in his 2nd pro season. Kenny’s 10th round pick has not only filled in admirably for Tyreek Hill, but he may be startable even when Hill returns. Sutton is WR16 through 4 games and has put up 11 or more points in 3 of 4 games. He has 7+ targets in every single game and is on pace for 88 catches, 1,200 yards and 8 TDs this season. Sutton was an afterthought during draft prep, but let’s not forget he has a good pedigree (40th overall pick) and is a physical freak (6-4, 215, 4.5 forty).
Bad News: The bad news relates to Ken’s other starting WR - Adam Thielen. Thielen is WR34 at press time with only 13 catches in 4 games. He scored 1.6 fantasy points last week and went off on Kirk Cousins in the post-game interviews. The whole Vikings passing game is stuck in the mud and nobody who owns Thielen actually feels good about it right now.
Sorry for everything (0-4):
Good News: I mentioned this last week and we’ll discuss it again – Melvin Gordon is back. The cowardly lion ended his holdout early and returned to the Chargers after missing 3 games and getting no more money from them. This is HUGE for Tieg as he’s been struggling to find an RB1 all year. It may take 1-2 weeks to get back up to speed, but Gordon is poised for big second half of the season.
Bad News: The bad news is that it may not be enough to pull Tieg out of this 0-4 hole. I don’t have proof for this, but I’d be shocked if any team in our league has ever started 0-4 and made the playoffs. Tieg would have to win at least 6 of his last 9 games (nice), if not 7 of 9. If he loses this week against Bob D it might be all she wrote.
Tell Sloan I Said What Up (2-2):
Good News: The good news is that Dylan has dug himself out of an 0-2 hole and reasserted himself back into the playoff discussion. Even better news? He’s done it without Saquon Barkley for the last two weeks. Here’s the cherry on top of the sundae - reports are that Barkley should return on the earlier side of his original injury timeline. In the mean-time he’ll continue to ride Dalvin Cook (RB2), Leonard Fournette (RB9) who combined for nearly 60 points in Week 4.
Bad News: The bad news is that his WR situation is still really questionable. Brandin Cooks has still failed to do much (WR27), while Demarcus Robinson busted (5.5 pts), Curtis Samuel continues to not live up to the preseason hype (5 pts) and Stefon Diggs continues to fumble my football (2 fumbles already this season, WR54 at press time). I’m assuming Diggs and Cooks will figure it out, but this WR group stinks right now.
Butt Kicker Dot Com (3-1):
Good News: Ultimate spin-zone: the good news is that Keetz got all of his bad performances out in the same week. Each of these players put up their worst performances of the season in Week 4: Russel Wilson, Mark Ingram, Deandre Hopkin and Julio Jones. At least his studs are on the same page? They were all really flukey games too, so it’s better to get them out of the way early on. Ravens lost to the Browns? Texans lost at home to the Panthers? Falcons only put up 10 at home vs the Titans? Wilson only managed 18.7 against the lowly Cardinals? Just a weird week that Keetz will have put behind him by now.
Bad News: The bad news is that Devonta Freeman might be a bust. Ironically enough he put up his BEST performance of the year this week with 16.4 points. Doesn’t sound too bad right? Wrong – he only got there because he had 11.2 points through receiving totals (8 catches for 72 yards). His rushing totals have been brutal and he’s taken 47 carries for just 157 yards with 0 TDs. That’s 3.34 yards per carry. Out of the 26 players with 47 or more carries, only Joe Mixon, LeVeon Bell, Sony Michel and Aaron Jones have a worse YPC. He’s RB27 and it’s hard to see him breaking the top 20-25.
MaKamaraca Great Again (3-1):
Good News: The good news is that Kev may have found a viable RB2 this week – Jordan Howard. Howard had one of the best games of his career with 34 points on 115 total yards and 3 TDs (only 2nd game with 3 TDs). Kev obviously didn’t start him as he was only owned in 56% and started in 6% of ESPN leagues, but he still got the W. (Sidenote: I played against some clown in a 12-man league who started Howard this past week. 56% chance of someone even OWNING him and 6% chance of someone starting him… unreal.) Anyways the RB2 slot has been a weakness for Kev this year (AP had 5 points this week), but Howard may fill that role nicely.
Bad News: The bad news is that Kev’s FLEX spot is still unsettled. In 4 games this year, Kev has started Kenyan Drake (4.5), Antonio Brown (14.3), Larry Fitz (12.1) and Larry Fitz (7.2) in the FLEX. That’s only 38 points total from the FLEX this entire season or about 9.5 per week. In a standard or half ppr league that’s not bad, but in our league that’s below average. He’ll need to shore this spot up if he wants to make a run to the finals.
